Automatization of Counting Procedures in Children With Dyscalculia (PROCEDYS)

Researchers in numerical cognition usually think that the greatest and most common difficulty in children suffering from dyscalculia is retrieval of arithmetic facts from long-term memory. However, we have recently shown that retrieval might not be the optimum strategy in mental arithmetic. In fact, expert adults would rather solve simple problems such as 3 + 2 by automated and unconscious procedures. Therefore, we hypothesize that children with dyscalculia might not present deficit in retrieval but, instead, in counting procedure automatization. The aim of the current project is to test this challenging position. Through a longitudinal approach, we plan to precisely examine the behavior of children suffering from dyscalculia over a 3-year period. Children will be aged between 8 to 11 years at the beginning of the study and we will precisely observe the evolution of their solution times when they solve simple addition problems involving one-digit numbers. If children with dyscalculia still struggle with simple additions three years, their solution times plotted on the sum of the problems should still follow an exponential function. Indeed, if counting is not automated, difficulties necessarily increase with the progression on the number line or the verbal sequence, hence the exponential function. On the contrary, if counting procedures tend towards automatization, moves along a number line will progressively become as easy at the beginning of the line as at the end, hence the linear function. Importantly, a retrieval model would predict exactly the inverse pattern because, according to this model, the linear function, which is unanimously considered as the hallmark of counting procedures, should progressively be replaced by a non-linear function through practice.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Dyscalculia
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Arithmetic facts solving

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 3
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Bron, France
    • Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 8 years to 11 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 8 and 11 years old
• Having a dyscalculia as described in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) V

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presenting a global intellectual deficit

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Behavioral recording of arithmetic and associated information; The experiment will contain several behavioral tasks in which solving time and correct answer will be recorded. The main one will be a computerized task on arithmetic facts. There will also be three additional tasks as described below.

Behavioral: Arithmetic facts solving; The experiment will contain several tasks. The main one will be a computerized task on arithmetic facts where participants will have to solve simple additions. There will also be three additional tasks: a processing speed task where the participant will have to tell the orientation of an arrow as fast as possible, a visuo-spatial task where the participant will have to reproduce a tapping block sequence and an arithmetic task where the participant will try to solve a maximum of operations in a limited time.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution	Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition of one digit numbers	Inclusion
Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution	Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition	12 months
Response times to solve an informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution	Time between the apparition of the stimuli and the answer. The task contain only addition	24 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of correct responses to solve the informatics task on simple arithmetic facts resolution		0+ 12 + 24 months
Result of the digit span memory task		0 month
Processing speed in an informatics task on arrow orientation		0 month
Result of the Corsi block tapping test		0 month
Result of the Tempo Test Rekenen	The Tempo Test Rekenen is used to evaluate arithmetical ability. It consists in solving several operations in a limited time.	0 month

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospices Civils de Lyon
• Collaborators: University of Lausanne

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Jeanne Bagnoud, Romain Mathieu, Jasinta Dewi, Sandrine Masson, Sibylle Gonzalez-Monge, Zumrut Kasikci and Catherine Thevenot. "An investigation of the possible causes of arithmetic difficulties in children with dyscalculia". L'Année psychologique. 2021;121(3):217-237. doi : 10.3917/anpsy1.213.0217.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 12, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 19, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): September 19, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 20, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 27, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): November 28, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 22, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Dyscalculia
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Specific Learning Disorder; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Communication Disorders; Learning Disabilities; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; Dyscalculia
• Other Study ID Numbers: 69HCL17_0651; 2017-A03134-49 (Other Identifier: ANSM)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No